Two men shoot at ISRO guards in Bangalore, flee

Bangalore: There was a major security breach at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) centre at Byalalu in Bangalore on Tuesday morning when two unidentified men opened fire at the security personnel present there and managed to escape.

The two unidentified men were spotted roaming suspiciously outside ISRO’s Byalalu centre in Bangalore. ISRO security guards went and interrogated the duo but they opened fired at the guards. The guards, too, returned the fire forcing the duo to flee.

ISRO spokesperson P Satish said that the duo was challenged by the security guards.

“Two unidentified persons were roaming around suspiciously. ISRO security questioned the persons who then opened fired with a small pistol that they were carrying. Since it happened outside the campus they managed to escape,” said Satish.

When asked if the two people were planning a terror attack on the centre, Satish replied, “It is not for ISRO to conclude. It is for other agencies to find out who they were. The security system is reviewed regularly and whatever are the recommendation by the Home Ministry are implemented.”

The incident happened at between 0330 hrs IST and 0400 hrs IST.

No one was injured during the shootout and ISRO officials ruled out any terror attack.

Police have registered a complaint and launched an investigation into the shootout.

But intelligence agencies have long identified ISRO among possible terror targets.

The ISRO Centre at Byalalu, about 40 kms from Bangalore, contains India’s biggest antenna to the skies and houses the Indian Deep Space Network.

The 32m wide antenna at the centre has been designed to track signals from deep space missions, including the moon mission Chandrayaan, as well as Mars.

The Rs 100-crore facility at Byalalu works as a base station for the Chandrayaan project and is spread over 120 acres.